When Amy Heimerl’s local education authority decided to incorporate iPad into the classroom, it started with an assignment. A team of five teachers were given the task of coming up with recommendations on how best to teach with the device. The team spent two full days putting together a comprehensive list of great iPad apps to use during the school year. Heimerl was part of that initial team, and the experience quickly opened her eyes to the teaching potential of iPad.

The education authority had already developed a rubric used to rate apps: does it meet the learning objective? Does it give immediate feedback? Is it the best possible app out of all the options? Is it customisable? Heimerl applied these criteria rigorously to select the best apps for her Year 1 class.

With 22 students in her class, Heimerl sometimes found it a challenge teaching to every level. So when the local education authority gave each of her students an iPad, she decided to try to create a customised learning experience for every student. And it turned out to be as simple as making folders. Heimerl put the same large library of apps on every student’s iPad. Then she dragged just the apps that fitted each student’s learning level into customised folders. For example, in one student’s maths folder, she might put a number-recognition app; another student who is ready for adding and subtracting might have an addition and subtraction app, and no need for the number-recognition app.

Making folders of apps seemed basic, but it made a huge difference. When students picked up their iPad to start learning, they just tapped the right folder and went to work. Giving her students easy access to tailor-made learning materials helped them advance much more quickly. “Everything they do on their iPad is completely self-checking, so they get that immediate reinforcement and can move on without my standing right there,” says Heimerl. “Students have the freedom to progress at their own speed.”

Heimerl’s students have an innate desire and eagerness to show classmates what they’re doing on their iPad. “They like to share what they learned, or what they can do, or what they found,” says Heimerl. “They can take their knowledge to their friend and be the teacher.”

She loves the fact that iPad encourages her kids to think independently. “My students find their own creative ways to do something or get somewhere,” says Heimerl. And when she sees her students doing something interesting on iPad, she projects their work to the class. “And then suddenly all of my kids want to try something new.”

The Monster at the End of This Book

“This story is so interactive and hands-on, and really fun for the kids. As the monster is telling the story, you can touch the screen and things pop off and the kids have such a fun time.”